Meaning & Origins

Of problematic origin. The name seems to have been first used in Spain and Portugal, and, according to tradition, was the name of the wife of St Paulinus of Nola, who spent most of his life in Spain; she was said to have originated (and to have derived her name) from the Greek island of Thēra. However, this story is neither factually nor etymologically confirmed.

English: habitational name from places in Derbyshire and Hampshire, named from the Old English byname Wicga (meaning ‘beetle’, ‘insect’) or Old English wicga ‘beetle’, ‘insect’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘woodland clearing’.